PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A year ago, with less than a year of service time under his belt and both Matt Harvey and Jon Niese injured, Zack Wheeler openly pined for the Opening Day starting assignment that ultimately went to Dillon Gee. Manager Terry Collins came away pleased with his young starter's gumption.

Fast forward a year, and Wheeler suddenly is one of the favorites to earn an Opening Day nod. Coming off a season in which he went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA, posting a 2.71 mark over his final 16 outings, Wheeler started one half of Tuesday's intrasquad game and could line up to take the hill to begin the Mets' regular season, as well.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- No one scored, some innings ended with less than three outs and both teams made substitutions with impunity. But it was still baseball. The Mets' "Blue" and "Orange" teams played to a 0-0 tie in Tuesday's intrasquad game, an annual tradition leading up to the start of the Grapefruit League season.

"The adrenaline started flowing today," said Team Orange starter Jon Niese, who struck out three and walked one over a pair of hitless, scoreless innings at Tradition Field. "All the hard work that you've done, you kind of find out where you're at once the adrenaline gets going. It's been a while since I've warmed up before a game and felt that good."

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Despite continued speculation that the Mets could trade a shortstop between now and Opening Day, general manager Sandy Alderson reiterated Tuesday that his club has had little talk with other teams. The Mets expect Dillon Gee, in particular, to break camp as part of the roster.

"Yeah, I think that's fair to say," Alderson said. "I think most clubs, including ours, are focused on what's going on in camp and evaluating what they already have. If there's going to be any significant trade talk, I think typically it's going to happen later in Spring Training, unless there's an injury of some sort. But by and large, I think that comes more in the second half of Spring Training."

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Billy Bean could have been any coach or instructor on Tuesday morning, throwing long toss with Matt den Dekker or pitching batting practice to John Mayberry Jr. But he was not. Bean was serving as Major League Baseball's ambassador of inclusion, spending the morning as an instructor after meeting with the entire organization prior to the workout.

The visit was the brain child of general manager Sandy Alderson, who approached Bean at the Winter Meetings and asked if he would attend camp. Originally, Alderson wanted Bean, an openly gay former Major Leaguer, to play in a Spring Training game, but Bean did not want to take away any time or attention from the players in camp.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Noah Syndergaard learned a rookie lesson the hard way during the Mets' intrasquad game Tuesday at Tradition Field.

As the middle innings played out on the main stadium field, Syndergaard, who was not scheduled to pitch, ducked inside to grab lunch. David Wright, who started at third base and was already out of the game, approached Syndergaard at the table and scolded him, according to multiple reports, telling the rookie that he should be on the bench supporting his teammates. Closer Bobby Parnell then grabbed Syndergaard's plate of food and threw it into the trash.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- This early in spring, live batting practice is an exercise inherently stacked against hitters. David Wright calls facing a game-ready pitcher "impossible" at a time when he and his peers are simply trying to rediscover their timing at the plate.

So it was entirely unsurprising to Wright when Matt Harvey unleashed a tumbling curveball Monday and the third baseman not only swung through it, but dropped his shoulder, put his head down and half-whiffed, half-walked out of the batter's box.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Zack Wheeler and Jon Niese will start Tuesday's Mets intrasquad game at Tradition Field, an annual event in advance of Wednesday's Grapefruit League opener. Tuesday's scrimmage will begin at 12 p.m. ET, with tickets available at the gate for $6. All proceeds go to charity.

Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDicomo. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Share This

Email

Print

Former big leaguer McKnight dies; played for Mets and O's

Email

Print

Jeff McKnight logged time at every position except center field and pitcher over parts of six seasons.

By Chad Thornburg
/
MLB.com |

Former Major Leaguer Jeff McKnight passed away on Sunday after a 10-year battle with leukemia. He was 52.

McKnight spent parts of six seasons in the Majors, with the Mets and Orioles. He primarily played the infield but logged time at every position except center field and pitcher. He hit .233/.284/.304 through 218 career games.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Before full-squad workouts officially began last month, Mets jack-of-everything Eric Campbell spent his mornings with the organization's catchers, learning to play that position. Campbell will serve as the Mets' emergency catcher this season, should something happen to both Travis d'Arnaud and Anthony Recker in the same game.

Campbell will also serve as the Mets' backup first baseman and third baseman, moonlight as an outfielder and perhaps even a middle infielder. Though he appears to have been somewhat marginalized by the team's offseason acquisition of outfielder John Mayberry Jr., another right-handed-hitting bench bat with even more power, Campbell is making up for it with versatility.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- When Mets manager Terry Collins asked Curtis Granderson if he would prefer to play left or right field this season, Granderson shrugged. When Collins asked the same question to Michael Cuddyer, he received the same response. So Collins plans to use each player at both positions this spring, giving himself the best possible platform to make a decision.

Yet, Collins already knows which way he is leaning. Lauding Granderson's work in right field last season, the manager said he will use Granderson there unless Cuddyer -- a career right fielder who has not played left since 2006, and who has spent just 0.3 percent of his big league innings there -- proves incapable of making the switch.

Duda could take swings early this week

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Mets first baseman Lucas Duda's strained left intercostal muscle is showing improvement, lining him up to potentially swing a bat early this week. Once that happens, Duda will progress from swinging off a tee to soft toss drills, hitting in a cage and, finally, taking full batting practice.

Though Duda has spent time in the cage each day since suffering the injury in mid-February, he has been tracking pitches without swinging -- a way to keep his timing relatively sharp.

Figueroa's experiences will help his coverage of the Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Nelson Figueroa's baseball career has taken him from Brooklyn to Phoenix, to Philadelphia and Houston and points in between, as well as the Dominican Republic, Mexico and as far afield as Taiwan. At times, he was a successful Major League pitcher, experiencing some of the game's most emotional highs. At others, he was an afterthought, unable to crack a roster.

That's why Figueroa believes he will thrive at SNY as the replacement for Bob Ojeda as the network's primary pregame and postgame studio analyst. Years ago, SNY executive producer Curt Gowdy Jr. watched Figueroa conduct an interview and came away so impressed that he reached out to him, asking about the pitcher's post-playing career plans. Those seeds grew into a job almost immediately upon Figueroa's retirement.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Within the confines of the Mets' clubhouse, no one studies hitting more than Daniel Murphy. His own harshest critic, Murphy is aware of every nuance of his swing, which allows him to know when something is out of whack. He is aware of his strengths. He understands his weaknesses.

So Murphy was amazed when new Mets hitting coach Kevin Long sent him an email this winter offering a thorough breakdown of the video he watched on Murphy's swing. It was clear to the second baseman that Long had not just watched his tape. He had devoured it.

Mets GM joined main baseball panel to discuss use of advanced metrics

BOSTON -- Mets general manager Sandy Alderson emphasized collaboration and communication as the keys for incorporating new ideas like defensive shifts and catcher framing at the annual Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Saturday.

Alderson joined baseball analysts Dave Cameron, Dan Brooks, Ben Lindbergh and moderator Jonah Keri on the main baseball panel, called "Beating the Shift: Baseball Analytics in the Age of Big Data." He acknowledged that things are changing, but made it a point that players must get accustomed to utilizing new information.

Young Mets spend leisure time at the rodeo

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Two months in Florida, spent thousands of miles away from friends and family, can force players to be creative with their free time. So when a group of young Mets -- including Jacob deGrom and Dillon Gee -- discovered a rodeo was taking place at the St. Lucie County Fair on Friday night, they did not need much convincing.

Tejada brushes off Reyes' criticism

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Ruben Tejada brushed aside criticism on Saturday from former teammate and mentor Jose Reyes, who told Newsday he was surprised Tejada has not done more to seize the Mets' shortstop job.

"I don't really pay attention to rumors," Tejada said. "If I tried to pay attention to everybody, it would make me crazy. So I take the good things about everybody and try to do my best here, and come here every day to work hard."

Mets' Saturday workout forced indoors by rain

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Steady rain washed out much of the Mets' scheduled workout on Saturday, leaving players -- with four days until the Grapefruit League season begins -- scrambling to fit in their scheduled exercises.

Hitters worked in covered cages, while pitchers threw in an enclosed space. Many Mets also took part in workouts at the team's Barwis Methods training facility attached to Tradition Field.

Harvey draws positive reviews after facing batters

Matt Harvey talks about his first live batting practice session and his excitement heading into the 2015 season

By Steve Dorsey
/
Special to MLB.com |

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- As Terry Collins wrapped up his daily news conference following Friday's workout, the Mets manager was asked if Matt Harvey's first appearance on the mound in 18 months was a milestone.

"I'm going to wait until those guys in different-colored uniforms get in that batter's box," Collins said. "That will be a milestone for him."

Steve Dorsey is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Share This

Email

Print

Collins watching lefty bench bat competition closely

Nieuwenhuis, den Dekker competing for spot on Mets' 25-man roster

Email

Print

Nieuwenhuis' RBI double 0:42

9/23/14: Kirk Nieuwenhuis gives the Mets the lead and opens the scoring with a ground-rule double to right field in the 5th inning

By Steve Dorsey
/
Special to MLB.com |

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- There's a position battle that Mets manager Terry Collins is going to be watching closely for the next month -- the one involving left-handed hitters Matt den Dekker and Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

"One of those guys has got to be on our bench, so it's up to them to show us this spring what they can do," Collins said following Friday's workout at the Tradition Field Spring Training complex. "If at the end of Spring Training Matt den Dekker outplays [Nieuwenhuis], hey, we got to go with the best 25."

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Six and a half years ago, Daniel Murphy arrived in Houston as a little-known 13th-round Draft pick trying to help the Mets win a pennant race. He spent much of the next half-decade trying to prove he belonged -- first in the big leagues, then at second base. Consistently, Murphy defied the odds.

Yet while the Mets have always appreciated Murphy's old-school skill set and attitude, they never rewarded him with a long-term contract extension. Instead, Murphy enters this season on an $8 million arbitration settlement, with no guarantees beyond it.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Matt Harvey will take a significant step forward in his rehab from Tommy John surgery on March 6, when he is scheduled to make his first Grapefruit League start against the Tigers. It will be Harvey's first live game action since Aug. 24, 2013, also against Detroit.

Duda to be sidelined from swinging bat for a week

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- What first appeared to be a minor left intercostal strain for Mets first baseman Lucas Duda is lingering. Duda, whom the Mets originally expected to miss only a few days of full-squad workouts, will instead refrain from swinging a bat for at least another week.

Duda strained the muscle taking swings earlier this month, prior to the official start of camp.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- It was enough that Noah Syndergaard was struggling. It was enough that Syndergaard was sweating out his days in the Las Vegas desert, long past the time he expected to become a member of the Mets.

All of that was enough. It came to a point around the All-Star break when Syndergaard was so sick of reading the critical tweets directed at him, so tired of seeing the unflattering descriptions in print, that he deleted the Twitter application off his phone entirely. He didn't want to know.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- If any questions remained as to the makeup of the Mets' Opening Day roster, manager Terry Collins answered them in the early days of spring. With only five players in camp who did not end last season in the organization, Collins never figured to face many difficult decisions. And while upsets do happen, the bulk of New York's roster appears relatively static heading into this week's full-squad workouts:

Suffering minor intercostal strain, Duda one of several players to work way in advance of camp

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- If the Mets were not already committed to scaling back their players' workloads this spring, a minor injury has them reassessing that issue.

First baseman Lucas Duda, one of several players to report nearly two months early to Spring Training, strained his left intercostal muscle while swinging in the batting cage earlier this month. Duda called the injury a "non-issue" and expects to be ready to participate in all activities by the end of this week. But he will not hit for the first few days of full-squad workouts.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Early in Mets camp, manager Terry Collins has floated the idea of batting outfielder Curtis Granderson leadoff this season, in an effort to expose Juan Lagares to lower-pressure situations. If Lagares proves he has developed enough offensively to be a force atop the lineup, only then might Collins be comfortable batting him there.

But perhaps that setup is not ideal, either. Bouncing all around the lineup last season, Granderson hit .181 with seven homers batting first or second, versus .269 with 13 home runs in a comparable number of at-bats elsewhere.

Mets shortstop has lost starting job to Flores, but manager hopes to see 25-year-old earn time

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Though Mets officials remain committed to Wilmer Flores as their starting shortstop, manager Terry Collins has gone out of his way this spring to promote Ruben Tejada's candidacy for the job. At the least, Collins knows, Tejada will be a backup middle infielder for the Mets. So the manager hopes to see some newfound fire out of Tejada, who is still just 25 years old.

"I am not in Ruben Tejada's head," Collins said. "I hope I'm in his head, but I'm not. But at the end of the year, I didn't tell Ruben Tejada what he needed to do. I asked him what he thought he needed to do, because that's where it has to start. I'm going to give him an opportunity to show it's still there. Now it's in his corner."